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  <title>BBC NEWS | Europe | Georgia breaks ties with Russia</title>
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  Georgia breaks ties with Russia
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      Georgia has decided to cut diplomatic ties with Russia, days after Moscow recognised the independence of Georgia's two breakaway regions.
    	  
  	
    
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      Moscow said the decision would "not help bilateral relations" between the nations, who had a brief war this month over breakaway region South Ossetia.

    	  
  	
    
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      Reports suggest Russia means to deepen its involvement with the two regions.

    	  
  	
    
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      Meanwhile, a rights group has said UN satellite images prove ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia were torched.

    	  
  	
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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      Human Rights Watch says the pictures of five villages near the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, are "compelling evidence of war crimes and grave human rights abuses".

    	  
  	
    
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      The organisation called on the Russian government to prosecute those responsible.

    	  
  	
    
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      Western governments have been fiercely critical of Moscow since Russian troops poured into the two regions in early August - forcing Georgian forces out.

    	  
  	
    
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      Mikheil Saakashvili believes Russia invaded Georgia to &quot;destroy the country&quot;
    	  
  	
    
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      Earlier this week, the powerful G7 group of nations said Moscow's recognition of the two provinces' independence broke international law.

    	  
  	
    
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      The Kremlin has hit back, labelling the G7 statement "biased" and "groundless".

    	  
  	
    
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      EU states, Moscow said, were at a crossroads over the conflict and it hoped reason would prevail at next week's EU summit, which will discuss the crisis.

    	  
  	
    
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      'Georgia's responsibility'
    	  
  	
    
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      Georgia had already announced that it would scale back staffing at its Moscow embassy, and that its ambassador - who was withdrawn last month - would not be returning.

    	  
  	
    
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      But the foreign ministry now says all of its diplomats will return from the Moscow embassy by Saturday.

    	  
  	
    
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      Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze said his ministry had received its instructions and "the final decision has been made".

    	  
  	
    
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      Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Moscow regretted Tbilisi's decision.

    	  
  	
    
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      "The possible end of diplomatic relations with Georgia is not the choice of Moscow, and Tbilisi will have to bear the entire responsibility," the state-controlled Tass news agency reported him as saying.

    	  
  	
    
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      It is expected the Russian embassy in Tbilisi will also now close down, the BBC's Richard Galpin reports from Tbilisi..
	

	
		    
			    
    	  
  	
  
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			                            SOUTH OSSETIA & ABKHAZIA
			                        
    	  
  	
    
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      South Ossetia
    	  
  	
    
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      Population: About 70,000 (before recent conflict)
    	  
  	
    
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      Capital: Tskhinvali
    	  
  	
    
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      President: Eduard Kokoity
    	  
  	
    
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      Abkhazia
    	  
  	
    
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      Population: About 250,000 (2003)
    	  
  	
    
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      Capital: Sukhumi
    	  
  	
    
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      President: Sergei Bagapsh
    	  
  	
    
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      Georgian officials did not give any reasons for the decision, but it comes amid reports that Moscow intends to extend its involvement in the two provinces - which both have Russian-backed governments.

    	  
  	
    
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      South Ossetia's parliamentary speaker Znaur Gassiyev said Russia would absorb the region within "several years", according to a report by the Associated Press

    	  
  	
    
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      He said the move had been agreed at high-level talks in Moscow earlier this week.

    	  
  	
    
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      The Russian Interfax news agency reported that Moscow would sign an agreement next week allowing it to set up military bases in the region.

    	  
  	
    
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      And Interfax also quoted Abkhazia's foreign minister, Sergei Shamba, as saying his province "may become part of the Union State of Russia and Belarus".

    	  
  	
    
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      The Kremlin has not yet commented on the reports.

    	  
  	
    
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      The conflict in the region began on 7 August when Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia by force after a series of lower-level clashes.

    	  
  	
    
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      Russia launched a counter-attack and the Georgian troops were ejected from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

    	  
  	
    
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      An EU-brokered ceasefire brought a formal end to the conflict, although each side has accused the other of breaking the agreement.

    	  
  	
  
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Story from BBC NEWS:<br>
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7588428.stm<br>
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Published: 2008/08/29 23:10:28 GMT<br>
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